Hong Kong beginnings

I am indeed in Hong Kong, as was reported on the local news. (Given the parochialism of some of the stories in the supposedly venerable local English-language daily, the South China Morning Post, that might not be untrue).

I am already working hard, as is the local custom. My office is in Cyberport, which is — by local standards — nowhere near the densely-populated and famous parts of Hong Kong. Twenty to thirty minutes on a bus would transport me to said parts, so obviously I’m in a different universe to them. The view of Cyberport from the road can look like this:

The urban majesty of the place never ceases to please me.

Cyberport is famous locally for being a Government-backed white elephant project [that is when it’s actually known about. It’s possibly even more famous for not being famous, despite its size and expense.] The Government decided around the year 2000, during the Internet stocks bubble, to spend lots of money on building a dedicated office park for all those crucial cyber-businesses that would employ everyone and their bionic dog. Of course, that didn’t happen, so instead Cyberport is now mostly a standard business park with cheap office space and pretensions. All very un-HK. Or is it?

I am yet another one of those annoying “ex-pats” who keeps commenting on how everything is different “back home”, and usually better too. But I hope I’m not really. I do want to learn about what is different here and understand how else society can be structured and run than the British, mainland European, American or indeed mainland Chinese way. Hong Kong deservedly holds the number 1 slot on the Heritage Foundation’s Index of Economic Freedom, but I’ve already seen worrying signs that this might not be sustainable, with calls in the newspapers, by local politicians and by local “green” activists for a more socialist system. The recently passed minimum wage legislation is a case in point, and I can already smell the socialisation of the housing market. Special interests are as vocal here as anywhere, but I don’t know yet how powerful.

Feel free to join me on this Voyage of Discovery (if this is a registered trademark, please don’t sue). Or you can click the Back button. The next post will probably be about my attempts to rent an apartment, navigating what everyone locally considers to be the most expensive and volatile Hong Kong market: property.